BIW’s first steel-hulled commercial vessel was Hull 008, City of Lowell. At its launch in 1893, it was the largest ship built in Maine. City of Lowell was meant to compete against the Fall River Line that transported people across the Long Island Sound to New York. After entering service in 1894, it didn’t take long for City of Lowell to earn the title of fastest passenger vessel on the Sound. The ship remained active until the mid-1930s.
